Device for hydrotherapy treatment

ABSTRACT

A hydrotherapy tank provided with a hammock for suspending a patient within the tank. The hammock is secured to a rack normally resting on the rim of the tub to free the tub of all transverse and longitudinal stresses.

United States Patent inventor Gerald L. Walter Rte 1, Box 146A,Manistee, Mich. 49660 Appl. No. 738,932 Filed June 21, 1968 PatentedJuly 27, 1971 DEVICE FOR HYDROTHERAPY TREATMENT 8 Claims, 3 DrawingFigs.

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[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 22,733 1/1859 Karshner128/369 1,242,113 10/1917 Rees 4/185 1,450,827 4/1923 Wood 4/185 PrimaryExaminerL. W. Trapp Att0rhey-Glenn B. Morse ABSTRACT: A hydrotherapytank provided with a hammock for suspending a patient within the tank.The hammock is secured to a rack normally resting on the rim of the tubto free the tub of all transverse and longitudinal stresses.

DEVICE FOR I-IYDROTHERAPY TREATMENT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONHydrotherapy is one of the most frequently used procedures in thegeneral class of treatments commonly known as physical therapy.According to the usual practices, all or part of a patient is immersedin a tank of circulating water, with the temperature of the tank beingselected for the particular purposes of the treatment. Occasionally,some additives are included in the water for specific purposes. Where itis desirable to treat as much of the patient as possible, theconventional hydrotherapy tank assumes the form of a large bathtubequipped with suitable circulating pumps and supply and drain conduits.In the case of elderly or incapacitated patients, it is sometimes verydifficult to place and maintain the position of a patient within thetank, and remove him after the treatment has finished. With the patientwetted over the major portion of his body, it'is very hard to handle himwithout slipping or applying excessive pressures that may aggravate hisphysical condition. It is also obvious that the area in which thepatient is supported on the bottom of the tank, as in a bathtub, is notsubject to the rapid circulation of the water on which the principlebenefits of the treatment depend.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides for the supportof a patient within a standard hydrotherapy tank through the use of ahammock disposed within the tank. Preferably, the hammock is supportedon a rack-shaped structure including crossbars and spacing bars, withthe entire structure (including the hammock) being vertically removablefor not only the convenience in assembling the hammock to the tank, butalso for the possible dual sue of the hammock and its supporting rack asa stretcher in carrying a patient to and from the tank.

In the preferred form of the invention, the hammock-supporting rack isdefined by a pair of spaced crossbars with end fittings that engage therim of the tank on opposite sides. These crossbars are maintained inspaced relationship by interconnecting bars. The relationship betweenthe connecting bars and crossbars may be rendered adjustable fordetermining the spacing between the ends of the hammock so that thedegree of slack in the hammock can be altered.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The several features of the invention will beanalyzed in detail through a discussion of the particular embodimentsillustrated in the accompanying drawing. In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a standard hydrotherapy tank equippedwith the preferred form of the hammock attachment.

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation on an enlarged scale over that of FIG. 1showing the structure at one of the corners of the hammock-supportingrack.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a modified form of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1 and 2, thestandard hydrotherapy tank generally indicated at has the parallelopposite rim portions 11 and 12. A standard pump unit 13 is normallyprovided to maintain a circulation of water or other solution within thetank 10. A rack structure generally indicated at 14 constitutes anattachment that can be slipped down onto the tank 10 for the support ofthe hammock 15 within the tank. This hammock is preferably made of opennetting, and is substantially narrower at the end 16 than at theopposite end 17 permit the legs of a patient to be disposed on eitherside of the end 16. Both of these ends have tubular sections embracingthe crossbars 18 and 19, respectively.

The most convenient and economical structure for the crossbar assemblyis shown in FIG. 2. The bar 19 is tubular,

and receives the stud 20 having the enlarged head 21 welded to theinside leg 22 of the U-shaped bearing member 23 forming one end of thecrossbar assembly. The outer leg 24 is spaced sufficiently from theinner leg to receive the rim of the tank 10, and these outer legs areinterconnected on corresponding sides of the tank by spacing bars 25 and26. The function of the spacing bars is to resist the tendency forweight suspended in hammock 15 to draw the bars 18 and 19 together. Thetelescopic interengagement between the stud 20 and the tube 19 willaccommodate considerable variation in width between tanks. Thisinterengagement may be rendered more secure (as when it becomesdesirable to use the entire rack in the manner of a stretcher) by aconventional cross pin (not shown) or its equivalent. In either case,the storage of the hammock attachment is considerably facilitated by thedisengageability of the tubes 18 and 19 from the end assemblies.

Where the attachment of the spacing bars 25 and 26 is fixed, as shown inFIG. 1, the suspended position of the patient within the tank iscontrollable by determining various amounts of slack in the hammock,either through the use of hammocks of varying length, or through someother form of adjustability of the tubular ends of the hammock. Theassembly at each of the four corners of the attachment are the same,with the U- shaped members 27-29 being identical to the member 23 shownin FIG. 2.

It is possible to provide a different form of adjustment for alteringthe amount of slack in the hammock l5, and this can be done through thearrangement shown in FIG. 3. The U-shaped member 30 is provided with astud similar to the stud 20 shown in FIG. 2. The spacing bar 31 may besecured to the member 30 by a bolt 32, which is engageable either in acentral hole (as shown in FIG. 3) or at the holes 33 or 34. The use ofthe hole 33 will provide more slack, and the use of the hole 34 willcorrespondently provide less slack in the hammock. Some form ofturnbuckle connection in the spacing bars can also be provided to givethis same sort of spacing adjustability. For lightness of weight, it ispreferable that the spacing bars be of tubular configuration, flattenedat the ends as shown in the drawing to facilitate the attachment to theend portions of the crossbar assemblies. Where there is no concern forthe use of the rack 14 as a separable hammock support, the U-shapedmembers may be clamped or bolted to the walls of the tank.

The particular embodiments of the present invention which have beenillustrated and discussed herein are for illustrative purposes only andare not to be considered as a limitation upon the scope of the appendedclaims. In these claims, it is my intent to claim the entire inventiondisclosed herein, except as lam limited by the prior art.

I claim:

1. In combination with a hydrotherapy tank having opposite rim portions,an attachment for suspending a patient within said tank, comprising:

a pair of crossbars having bearing members at each end thereofengageable with said rim portions;

means structurally independent of said tank maintaining the spacedrelationship of said crossbars on said rim portions; and

a hammock having the opposite ends thereof respectively engaging saidcrossbars for suspension within said tank.

2. A combination as defined in claim 1, wherein said means maintainingthe spaced relationship of said crossbars is at least one spacing barinterconnecting corresponding end portions thereof.

3. A combination as defined in claim 2, wherein spacing barsinterconnect both corresponding end portions of said crossbars.

4. A combination as defined in claim 3, wherein said spacing bars areadjustable with respect to said crossbars to vary the spacing thereof.

5. A combination as defined in claim 1, wherein said bearing members areU-shaped, and adapted to hook over said rim portions, one side of saidU-shaped members being engaged with said crossbars, respectively.

sides of said U-shaped members on corresponding sides of said tank areinterconnected by spacing bars.

8. A combination as defined in claim 1, wherein said hammock issubstantially wider at one end than at the other

1. In combination with a hydrotherapy tank having opposite rim portions,an attachment for suspending a patient within said tank, comprising: apair of crossbars having bearing members at each end thereof engageablewith said rim portions; means structurally independent of said tankmaintaining the spaced relationship of said crossbars on said rimportions; and a hammock having the opposite ends thereof respectivelyengaging said crossbars for suspension within said tank.
 2. Acombination as defined in claim 1, wherein said means maintaining thespaced relationship of said crossbars is at least one spacing barinterconnecting corresponding end portions thereof.
 3. A combination asdefined in claim 2, wherein spacing bars interconnect both correspondingend portions Of said crossbars.
 4. A combination as defined in claim 3,wherein said spacing bars are adjustable with respect to said crossbarsto vary the spacing thereof.
 5. A combination as defined in claim 1,wherein said bearing members are U-shaped, and adapted to hook over saidrim portions, one side of said U-shaped members being engaged with saidcrossbars, respectively.
 6. A combination as defined in claim 5, whereinsaid one side of the U-shaped member is provided with a studtelescopically engaging the end of said crossbars, respectively.
 7. Acombination as defined in claim 5, wherein the outer sides of saidU-shaped members on corresponding sides of said tank are interconnectedby spacing bars.
 8. A combination as defined in claim 1, wherein saidhammock is substantially wider at one end than at the other.